Shaken by massacre, hundreds travel 34 hrs to reach to safety 2,000km away

Kolkata: Sari trader Biswajit Bhoumik from Phulia in Ranaghat visited Baisaran Valley with his two family members around 10:30 am, about three hours before the attack on Tuesday. Around 1:30 pm, they were roaming around when the massacre took place around 15 km away."We booked a car, and the driver came running, asking us to leave the place immediately as he came to know about the attack from cops. We also spoke to the cops who informed us about the incident and suggested we return to the hotel quickly. Hearing that, we became scared and nervous. We returned to the hotel, took our luggage, and left for Katra," recounted Bhoumik.He was among scores of tourists from Bengal who heaved a sigh of relief on reaching Sealdah station in Humsafar Weekly Superfast Express around 5:12 pm on Thursday. "If the terrorists struck the Baisaran Valley in the morning, we would have been the victims. We are still horrified," said Bhoumik.Over 500 passengers boarded the train from Jammu around 7:20 am on Wednesday and travelled about 1,945 km in 34 hours to reach Sealdah on Thursday. Many of them cancelled their full trip plans in Kashmir and came back home after the terrorist attack.Kharagpur resident Abhradip Mondal said, "We visited Pahalgam on April 17. Everything was normal, and we saw routine patrolling by the army. None could imagine what was in store for the valley just five days later."Sanjib Sanyal of Basirhat thanked the landslide that compelled them to move out of Pahalgam in the morning last Tuesday. "The road was already diverted due to the landslide, and we set out to Srinagar in a car. While on the way, our driver told us about the attack, and we had a lucky escape," said Sanyal.Soumobrata Bhattacharjee, a CU student, went to Kashmir with his parents on a vacation. "It was beyond our imagination that the valley would again be in the grip of terrorism. We were in Katra when the Pahalgam tragedy occurred. "Rabin Sarkar travelled to Kashmir with his family on April 15 and returned in a hurry after the dreadful incident. "We were there in Pahalgam just the day before the incident. As soon as we learnt about it, we booked a car from Sangaldhan to Katra for Rs 40,000 and boarded the train the next day," he said.(With inputs from Adrija Datta and Sukhomoy Sen)